James Buckner, the new police chief of Corinth, Missouri, must root out corruption and incompetence in his department, hire new officers, and avoid the pitfalls of small-town politics. When a boy playing hooky from school discovers a woman's body under the snow at the train station, Buckner drops everything else to focus on this startling development.

During his investigation, he relies on the help of his friends, Dr. Jeff Peck, black saloonkeeper Elroy Dutton, and the attractive vice-principal of Corinth High School, Judith Lee. Buckner discovers the dead woman is a local farmer's mother, but he faces red tape when the county sheriff warns him not to go out of his jurisdiction in questioning potential suspects. However, it's when Buckner hires two black police officers in the strongly Southern town of Corinth that he faces potential career suicide.

Can Buckner find the murderer and save his job before racial tensions explode?